On December 31, 2015, Taylor Swift dropped her music video for “Out of the Woods” during Dick Clark’s New Years Rockin’ Eve event.
Two years ago Taylor Swift released the iconic “Out of the Woods” music video. The video that tells a story and the video that has a much deeper meaning that many would think. It’s a video of finding yourself through the mess and coming out stronger than ever before. It’s a video displaying loss but discovering a newfound freedom. Beautiful, magical, and iconic is what “Out of the Woods” is, and it deserves every bit of attention.
The music video was directed by Joseph Kahn, marking it as Swift and Kahn’s fourth collaboration from 1989, following “Bad Blood,” “Blank Space,” and “Wildest Dreams”. Swift filmed the video in New Zealand in the mountains of Queenstown and on Bethells Beach. During the filming process, Swift was seen only wearing a blue dress, and yes, it was cold. Needless to say, she suffered for her art and did a good job doing just that, while making a beautiful music video to portray the entire message of what 1989 was.
Anxiety is laced throughout the music video and is literalized to an extreme degree. “Out of the Woods” is a story portraying anxious feelings, meaning that Swift captured the story well. She was lost but she found herself and somehow that was everything. It’s a chilling and stunning piece of artwork and is one of her greatest videos to date.
You can watch the music video for “Out of the Woods” below: